Why do religious communities which for a long time strenuously resisted the new, the modern, the contemporary, now most successfully adapt their expressions and employ or even exploit the manifestations of 'the modern' which they once opposed? Martin E. Marty opens up an apparent conundrum.

The future of global Christian cooperation is at stake in a contest between the kind of unity-through-relationship imagined by the Bible and unity-through-consumption modelled by MTV, suggested World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev Dr Samuel Kobia in India yesterday (14 February 2007).

Against a backdrop of public questioning about how a beneficially plural society can be sustained, the British Methodist Church is inviting people of all ages and faith backgrounds to take part in the Face 2 Faith photo competition, capturing images that communicate something powerful about positive inter-faith relations.